SARAWAK PKR has called on the state government to ban 24-hour online gambling reload outlets across the state.
Tay Wei Wei, Sarawak PKR’s information chief, urged local authorities and the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to impose the ban immediately.
"These 24-hour online gambling outlets have expanded from cities and towns into rural villages across Sarawak. Once confined to urban areas, their operations have now spread into rural districts," Tay said.
He said many of these outlets are using retail fronts, such as sundry shops, to disguise their gambling activities.
"We have received numerous complaints from grassroots communities, who report that more people are becoming addicted to online gambling due to the round-the-clock availability of these outlets," he added.
Tay, who also serves as a special officer to the Home Minister overseeing social affairs in Sarawak and Sabah, highlighted that youths can easily access these outlets to activate and reload their online gambling links on their mobile phones, with little enforcement action being taken against these gambling dens.
On August 13, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail appointed Tay to oversee his ministry's matters in the Borneo states. – September 7, 2024.
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